b'TIPS FOR RELUCTANT By Claudia FIRST-TIME MOOTERSFor the charismatic and quick-witted among us, mooting is a chance to let your inner Harvey Spector shine. For the rest of us, mooting is a necessary evil. Although I am part of the second category, I will attempt to impart some hard-earned knowledge in the form of 5 simple tips:1 EYE CONTACT 3 PACING Its natural to want to hide behind yourGood pacing makes for a happy judge. script. A judge in a first-year moot wontSpeaking too fast is one of the most expect you to have memorised the entirecommon mistakes new mooters make. thing, but they may deduct marks ifIts better for a speech to be slightly over youre reading off the page every timethe time limit than on time but totally they look at youmooting is a dialoguerushed. Judges are people too: to engage between you and the judge. The best waywith your arguments, they need time to avoid this is just to practice reading itto actually listen to and process the aloud until you cant stand the sound ofpoints you are making. Pausing after it anymore. Refer to your page in intervalsa particularly strong point will flag its to make sure youre staying on track, butimportance to a judge.dont rely on it entirely4 PRACTICE WITH FRIENDS2 HAVE CONFIDENCE INWHAT YOU ARE SAYINGBefore you moot you should have a rough One of the comments Ive receivedidea of what questions the judge may ask was: your responses to questions wereyou. Read your speech to a friend and get good, but you said them as though theythem to pick out any contentious points werent good. While youll obviouslyof law or logical flaws you may have feel more comfortable sticking to themissed. Even better, ask them to think law, present your riskier arguments withfrom the perspective of the opposing confidence. Its part of the craft of lawcounsel. This way you can prepare solid to make even the weakest argumentresponses and avoid potential mind-sound persuasive in court. Performanceblanks on the day.is a large part of this. Even if the facts are unfavourable to your client, speaking with an air of uncertainty will only make your listeners sceptical of your argument. Essentially, fake it till you make it.PAGE 18'